Issue link: https://resources.mouser.com/i/1525523
| 30 in practice, stepper applications often use a sensor to detect the rotor position because of possible slippage through excess speed, load, and other issues (such as vibration, temperature changes, load variations, and mechanical wear and tear). Alternatively, a reset mode can periodically return the load to a known position. The stepper motor moves forward or backward in small increments; when it arrives at its target position, it will stay in place as long as the stator coils remain energized and there is no further instruction to move from the controller. Control is achieved through pulses that tell the motor how many steps forward or backward to travel. Because the rotor travels in defined steps, or fractions of a revolution, instead of a continuous motion, it can have a "jerky" movement, particularly for devices with a small number of steps. Stepper motors can also be used with linear actuators to provide precise linear motion applications. A technique called microstepping was developed to deliver high- resolution stepping without an expensive and complex rotor. This technique can also help smooth the motion of the motor. Microstepping uses a PWM signal to control the current in the windings, allowing the rotor to stop between poles, which increases the number of steps available. It does this by increasing the current in one winding while reducing the current in the other, keeping the current in each 90° out of phase (Figure 4). The technique can be used to introduce up to 256 intermediate microsteps between each full step. Therefore, a 200-step motor can potentially have 51,200 microsteps. Microstepping can also be used in place of gearing in some applications, but while it does not introduce back-EMF or reduce system speed, it can't multiply the torque in the same way that gears can. There is also a danger of introducing smaller steps than the system can handle. This happens when the torque produced by the microstrip cannot overcome the friction torque of the load. Figure 4: The current drive comprises a series of small steps with a sine-like shape in microstepping. (Source: Texas Instruments) PD60-4H-1461-CoE Single Axis Stepper Motor mouser.com/adi-pd60-4h-1461-coe-motor